Broken Promises
by RemixD88
Summary: There were to be no promises broken.  But that was a lie.  And he promised not to lie.  The truth was, broken promises were what brought him down. [[Steve Randle Centric]]  RATED FOR LANGUAGE


**Heyllo everybody! It is me again! I'm be posting a Johnny Cade story soon and uhmm... a one-shot about Two-Bit. Maybe about Two-bit. Not too sure yet.**

**Anyway, this is a long drabble about our beloved Steve Randle. It's mostly me rambling about nothing, because I have trouble writing.**

**Warning: SPOILER ALERT;; I dunno why you're reading this if you haven't read or seen The Outsiders yet.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own The Outsiders at all! The lovely lady Susan E. Hinton wrote this.**

**I have a nutrition deficiency! And it's not from what you think!**

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Nineteen year old Steve Randle limped down the dimly lit road, not daring to view his surroundings.

Knowing he wouldn't be jumped by Socs, he hung his head low, his Marine hat threatening to forcibly gravitate to the tar road below. But, that didn't matter.

Nothing ever mattered to him. Whatever did, well, they just disappeared, died, left him to be tortured in too many horrific ways.

He thought back to the good ol' days… they weren't that great, having a father worse than Johnnycake's, getting jumped every now an' then, an' having to be dragged to the hospital practically every month. But he had his friends, his gang of Greasers, his best friend Sodapop… ah, Sodapop.

Sodapop was everything that he, Steve, wanted to be and had more for him than anyone would've ever guessed. First of all, Soda was handsome. Not kid handsome, but movie star handsome. Coming from a guy, that doesn't really swing right, but whatever, it still didn't matter.

Soda had so many girls fawning all over him. They would all come by at the DX, slobbered in makeup, not really wearing clothes, and follow him around everywhere. Being his best friend had its perks about that, since he was able to get girls to talk to other Greasers. Joy.

Another thing about Soda was that nobody could ever stay mad at him. He had that fun personality that made everyone smile. Best friend perk number two: Being friends with Soda meant no detention. No suspensions, no ruler smacking, or belt whipping from the substitutes. But nothing would be right for Steve again, not after what happened.

Steve continued down the road, averting his hate-filled eyes that were usually brighter, but now dull and lifeless. His life was a lie and a lie was what killed him the most inside.

**FLASHBACK**

_The gang was gathered in the Curtis household, called up by Sodapop himself. Two-bit cracking jokes about nothing sensible, Darry yelling at him for spilling beer on carpet. Ponyboy sprawled on the ground reading that old novel, what was it? Oh yeah, Gone with the Wind._

_Soda was pacing around and Steve himself was starting to sweat while the world spun around him. Finally Soda's cracked voice rang out in a melancholy tone._

_"Guys, me an' Steve have something important to say."_

_Two-bit jumped up._

_"No!! Say it ain't true! I beat the tar outta those middle schoolies who said they saw you guys checkin' in ta that hotel over on Maybury!"_

_All Steve could do was O.O while Soda angrily stuttered. Darry suddenly burst out laughing and tripped over his youngest brother. While the two were tangled up, yelling, and laughing, Two-bit was on the verge of tears._

_"Please say it ain't so! Please!"_

_"Me and Steve were drafted to Vietnam!"_

_Silence._

_The two 'soldiers' stared at their friends._

_Ponyboy choked out a "w-w-what?!?"_

_"You heard me. We've been recruited to go fight overseas. We're leaving next week too, but should be back in time for school to start back up, ya know, around the end of August."_

_Darry's expression went from giddy to stone. He was losing his family again._

_"A-a-are you sure that you have to go?"_

_"Yes Darry."_

_"…Fine then."_

_"What?!?" inquired Pony, for the second time that day. "Soda c- Soda and Steve can't leave us!"_

_Darry's eyes flashed with anger but he responded with a calm tone. "Haven't you left us before? You've run away, and look at the outcome of that." The sentence raised the tension to its highest point, reminding everyone of their late friends Johnny Cade and Dally Winston._

_Pony then took off to his room._

_Two-bit went into the kitchen for a beer and Darry solemnly helped the other two with their preparations._

**END FLASHBACK**

Steve almost began a little chuckle. Almost. But that memory brought back the one that scarred him. The one that glared at him with lifeless eyes that bore through his mind.

**FLASHBACK**

_"Saying goodbye was hard." Both marines had held back tears as they bid adieu to their brothers, friends, and other citizens who saw them and sent Godspeed._

_The two walked together onto the plane and sat with each other. The flight was long and tiring, and none of the young men could stay away._

_As the plane drew closer to the designated area, Steve and Soda groggily awoke. As soon as they stepped off the plane, they would be separated with the possibility of never seeing each other again._

_Steve then turned to Soda._

_"Promise me this. Promise me that we will see each other soon and go back to Tulsa in August!"_

_"Man, I promise! I promise we'll come back alive and I promise that we'll have a party and get ripped!"_

_"Neh, that last time you said that we never even got to plan a party!"_

_"Whatev, Steve-o. Whatev."_

**END FLASHBACK**

Tears, threatening to fall, Steve bit his lip hard to make it bleed.

He thought to himself, "Soda promised me. He never goes back on his promises either! We were going to have such a great party and Evie would be there and life would get better!"

No.

Evie had left him. For a frickin Soc. A frickin Elite Socialite.

But even worse…

Soda was dead.

He sacrificed himself for his stupid squad that wasn't trained well enough. The squad that let him be blown to pieces while they argued and almost got themselves killed. But, no. Soda just HAD to go save them and ruin his best pal's life. He ruined his own brothers' lives. And Two-Bit, the joker of the friends, he wouldn't be the happy go lucky man again.

Steve clenched his teeth harder.

It wasn't that long ago since Soda died. About a few weeks, Steve guessed. But it didn't make matters any better.

Everybody told him that he would learn to cope over time. That he would be able to move on after time. But they lied.

Every passing day that went, his mind cracked, just a little bit more.

Every passing day that went, his hatred grew, just a little bit more.

Until that very day, Steve tried to ignore this. But he couldn't ignore himself. Or the fact that he had reached his destination.

Steve stood in front of the grave of his dearly beloved best friend, Sodapop Patrick Curtis.

"Hey, there Soda," his voice cracked ever so slightly.

"I know I haven't been here for awhile, but I wanted to say hi."

Oh frick. How hard was it to say hi to a stone for Pete's sake?!

"Ponyboy is doing pretty okay. He misses you, but we all do."

He could almost hear Soda soft accent saying that he missed them too.

And then his mind was bent.

"W-w-why'd you have to leave, Soda?!?" he screamed.

"You left Darry like Dallas, hating everyone except Pony! And Two-Bit! He hasn't cracked a joke in months and he's been trying to steal cars now! And, and me. I'm alone in the world right now. Evie left me, you left me, and everyone's leaving me. I know that you can see me up in Heaven right now. I know that you want to be here with us. And now you're gone because of fighting. Just like Dallas and Johnny were! And do you know what? We didn't even win the war!! We didn't even win the fucking war."

Steve fell to his knees, his chest racking, trying to hold back silent sobs.

"Soda. We miss you."

And then, both tears and blood were shed. Joy, too.

Tears came from the three remaining Greaser friends. But they were happy. Although blood shed from the one they so truly missed, their other best pal, their Marine man, he was with his best friend. He was Steve Randle.

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**Gahh, it's ever so angsty. I KNOW the ending totally sucked. Rate and review?**


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